Past Winner Stories
Netfor
www.netfor.com
Netfor is a technology firm specializing in remote technical support to franchise networks. Specifically, the company offers online technical support from its Indianapolis headquarters and on-site support via a network of more than 1000 Certified On-site Technicians throughout the nation. Each support desk employee and on-site technician is trained to support clients’ proprietary and off-the-shelf software.
The Challenge
While all small business face a variety of challenges each day, Netfor was not content to let these challenges hinder its success. After its initial growth, the company had reached a seemingly unbreakable plateau. In short, it had grown as much as its manpower and geography would allow.
Background
Netfor was originally founded in 1995 as a one-person computer-consulting firm. With no outside investment, the company was funded initially on the personal resources, mainly credit cards, of founder Jeffrey Medley.
Growth could only come from revenues, and revenues could only come from steadily increasing business. Initially, Medley did what most new business people do, accepted clients from friends, family and social contacts.
One of these contacts owned a RE/MAX real estate franchise office. Over time, Medley learned to support industry-specific software and was able to increase his hardware and support sales within the RE/MAX of Indiana region. His staff grew to four in order to support this local business.
At this time, Medley learned the lesson that working with franchises could be profitable, as technology is generally replicated among all offices in a particular franchise organization. In short, if you can support one, you can support all of them if you had the manpower to do so.
The Opportunity
Medley knew, however, that most nationwide franchises were either supported by an internal Information Technology department or a hodgepodge of regional outfits. Regardless, this was inefficient, as even the simplest computer problems required the organization to send a technician onsite approximately 75 percent of the time. Travel expenses alone were usually greater than the cost of fixing the problem unless the technician was based in the precise town as the franchise. That was not always possible for franchises with thousands of locations.
If the franchise didn’t have a local technician and did not want to pay travel expenses, its only option was to work with a third-party vender. However, most of these venders did not know proprietary franchise software.
Realizing the constraints that franchises have in the information technology realm, and the large amount of business in this sector, Netfor researched its competition and found that no company nationally served this niche.
Business would be abundant if the following changes could be overcome:
Delivering franchise support over wide distances without incurring costly travel expenses; thus, the incidence of onsite visits must be reduced to near elimination
Learning to support a variety of franchises’ proprietary software to address these challenges Netfor developed the following strategies:
The Challenge
While all small business face a variety of challenges each day, Netfor was not content to let these challenges hinder its success. After its initial growth, the company had reached a seemingly unbreakable plateau. In short, it had grown as much as its manpower and geography would allow.
Background
Netfor was originally founded in 1995 as a one-person computer-consulting firm. With no outside investment, the company was funded initially on the personal resources, mainly credit cards, of founder Jeffrey Medley.
Growth could only come from revenues, and revenues could only come from steadily increasing business. Initially, Medley did what most new business people do, accepted clients from friends, family and social contacts.
One of these contacts owned a RE/MAX real estate franchise office. Over time, Medley learned to support industry-specific software and was able to increase his hardware and support sales within the RE/MAX of Indiana region. His staff grew to four in order to support this local business.
At this time, Medley learned the lesson that working with franchises could be profitable, as technology is generally replicated among all offices in a particular franchise organization. In short, if you can support one, you can support all of them if you had the manpower to do so.
The Opportunity
Medley knew, however, that most nationwide franchises were either supported by an internal Information Technology department or a hodgepodge of regional outfits. Regardless, this was inefficient, as even the simplest computer problems required the organization to send a technician onsite approximately 75 percent of the time. Travel expenses alone were usually greater than the cost of fixing the problem unless the technician was based in the precise town as the franchise. That was not always possible for franchises with thousands of locations.
If the franchise didn’t have a local technician and did not want to pay travel expenses, its only option was to work with a third-party vender. However, most of these venders did not know proprietary franchise software.
Realizing the constraints that franchises have in the information technology realm, and the large amount of business in this sector, Netfor researched its competition and found that no company nationally served this niche.
Business would be abundant if the following changes could be overcome:
Delivering franchise support over wide distances without incurring costly travel expenses; thus, the incidence of onsite visits must be reduced to near elimination
Learning to support a variety of franchises’ proprietary software to address these challenges Netfor developed the following strategies:
- Develop a service innovation that would allow Netfor to service national franchise clients by reducing onsite visits
- Build a network of nationwide technicians to service clients for the rare occasions that onsite work was required
- Develop a system for learning proprietary software
The implementation of this strategy would result in the following outcomes:
Netfor would increase revenues substantially
It would become a national leader in the franchise technical support market sector
The Solution
The major hurdle to servicing nationwide clients was to develop the technology to eliminate onsite visits to near extinction.
Service Innovation
Netfor adopted a little-known, Internet-based screen sharing application that would allow for technicians to engage a client with a technical support issue, communicate online with the client about the problem and fix the problem remotely.
This innovation nearly eliminated the need for onsite visits and gave Netfor the capacity to service the largest franchise clients in existence. In 2001, Netfor solved 98% of all client support issues remotely. The company estimates that they can reduce a franchise client’s technology support budget, on average, by 65%. Depending on the size of the franchise operation’s budget, this can mean an annual savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Nationwide Network
However, a small number of service issues still required an onsite technician. For instance, a new hard drive cannot be installed remotely. Instead of sending its own technicians on the road, Netfor developed a nationwide network of more than 1,000 Certified Onsite Technicians. They can reach any franchise client in the U.S. and Puerto Rico within hours as they are spread across the nation based upon client locations.
Proprietary Software
The third strategy was to develop a way to support proprietary software. Netfor created a Client Software Lab in its headquarters where it can install a new client’s software and learn how to support it thoroughly before beginning support services.
Successes
In a little over two years after identifying a market opportunity, Netfor was able to build a system to deliver unmatched service to a largely untapped market. Its growth rate has been phenomenal, and it has found success in a unique market niche.
Netfor would increase revenues substantially
It would become a national leader in the franchise technical support market sector
The Solution
The major hurdle to servicing nationwide clients was to develop the technology to eliminate onsite visits to near extinction.
Service Innovation
Netfor adopted a little-known, Internet-based screen sharing application that would allow for technicians to engage a client with a technical support issue, communicate online with the client about the problem and fix the problem remotely.
This innovation nearly eliminated the need for onsite visits and gave Netfor the capacity to service the largest franchise clients in existence. In 2001, Netfor solved 98% of all client support issues remotely. The company estimates that they can reduce a franchise client’s technology support budget, on average, by 65%. Depending on the size of the franchise operation’s budget, this can mean an annual savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Nationwide Network
However, a small number of service issues still required an onsite technician. For instance, a new hard drive cannot be installed remotely. Instead of sending its own technicians on the road, Netfor developed a nationwide network of more than 1,000 Certified Onsite Technicians. They can reach any franchise client in the U.S. and Puerto Rico within hours as they are spread across the nation based upon client locations.
Proprietary Software
The third strategy was to develop a way to support proprietary software. Netfor created a Client Software Lab in its headquarters where it can install a new client’s software and learn how to support it thoroughly before beginning support services.
Successes
In a little over two years after identifying a market opportunity, Netfor was able to build a system to deliver unmatched service to a largely untapped market. Its growth rate has been phenomenal, and it has found success in a unique market niche.
- Netfor has attracted several nationwide franchise clients including Mail Boxes Etc., Sir Speedy and PIP printing
- Netfor was recognized as Mail Boxes Etc.’s Vendor of the year in 2000, beating out such tech giants as Dell, Pitney Bowes and Hughes Satellite Systems
- Netfor has developed a system to eliminate 98% of onsite computer support visits
- Netfor has grown from one employee in 1995 to 22 full time employees in 2002
- Netfor’s sales have increased from $123,000 in 1996 to more than $2 million today
- Netfor’s average yearly growth is 78%
- Netfor continues to add high-quality national franchises to its client list
- Netfor is secure in a niche with no direct competition